Safe Haven, based on the latest novel from best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, whose books have been made into the hit films The Notebook, The Last Song,Nights in Rodanthe and Dear John, is a gripping love story infused with suspense and discovery. When a young woman escaping her past moves to a small North Carolina town, and falls for a loving widowed father, he heals her heart, and helps her escape the danger that threatens her.

We're switching our focus this new year to be more informative to our readers and provide weekly updates. Stay tuned to updates on the latest happenings in the state of North Carolina! Don't forget to friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! Our social networking sites will keep you updated if you don't get a chance to stop by the blog!

New Hallmark movie filmed in Wilmington premieres this weekend: StarNewsOnline

Will you be attending the 2nd Annual 2012 Pink Sheep Film Festival this summer? If you haven't heard about the upcoming festival, listen to our interview with festival creators Channing Duke and Lynn Casper. The two provide an inside look as to how the festival was created and what film goers can expect when they see indie films courtesy of Pink Sheep!

The clip below is our interview from last year's festival. It was a success! Stay tuned for more info about the festival and if you're a filmmaker, the deadline to submit your film is April 1st!

NCIndieSeen's interview are starting to go viral! Stay tuned for more interviews and videos from your favorite North Carolina film blog!
The transcript below is available if there are some issues with hearing any audio. We're gettin there guys!

NCIndieSeen: Tell us a little bit about the film "I Will Follow"

Ava: "I Will Follow" is really about a woman at a crossroads. The main character name is Maye and she's a makeup artist in New York City. She has a hot career and a hot boyfriend played by Blair Underwood. Then tragedy strikes in her family and she has to go home and take care of some things and in the process is struggling to keep her balance and keep her identity and so the film explores how to maintain yourself amidst personal chaos.

NCIndieSeen: Where was it shot and how long did it take for production on that?

Ava: 15 days. In Topanga Canyon, CA. I was really interested in Topanga its a canyon community in California. I'm from California and usually when you wanna see black people on screen they're not against greenery unless they're in the South and its a period piece. So I was really interested in seeing contemporary black people in a canyon setting which happens to not really have been captured on screen. So in moments in the film you see her walking in the street its greenery and that where they live, which I think that it's a little different from how we usually see ourselves in an urban setting or on the mean streets.

NCIndieSeen: How did you go about casting in this film?

Ava: I met the casting director Aisha Coley who actually cast Secret Life of Bees and Akeelah and The Bee and did alot of work with Spike Lee and so she was agreed to work with me early on and some of it was Aisha Coley auditioning in meetings and some of it was personal relationships like Blair Underwood is a good friend and his part was written with him in mind with hopes he would come out for a couple of days and do it. It was a mixuture of relationships and standard casting.

NCIndieSeen: What advice would you give to independent filmmakers trying to break out in the film industry and start their own feature films?

Ava: Well that's a huge question there are so many things to do. In general you have to have a passion for what you are doing for alot of folks when they are thinking about their first feature they're thinking about ok what will sell in the studios or what's in right now or other trends and I think the best films come from someone's heart and so you can tell when something is being done just to be done and something that means something to someone the film just feel different to the audience, and those that have some kind of connection are the most successful with audiences and stand the test of time I think. So I would just encourage people to dig deep and bare their soul and make something that's important to them, you may not get another chance.

Late last year, NCIndieSeen had the opportunity to interview Issa Rae the creator of "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl". The interview took awhile to upload on the site due to some crazy technical issues and converting audio files from a smartphone to YouTube was alot more complicated than I thought! Geez! There is already a transcript of the interview under our label "The Interview". However if you would like to hear the exclusive interview here check out the YouTube clip below :)

Although its not completely official who has landed the contract to do Iron Man 3 casting in Wilmington, NC, its good to get the inside info on who may potentially be looking for extras and stand-ins when casting begins this summer. It's going to be an exciting summer in North Carolina and don't forget that there will still be a number of films in production while Iron Man 3 is filming. So everyone has the opportunity to get some summer films under their belt and on that resume!

The Human Rights Campaign, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, and Healing with CAARE of Durham are creatively lending a helping hand in shedding light on the rising HIV rate in North Carolina.

Absolutely Positive is a dramatic short film that follows four characters from different walks of life, as they get tested for HIV. The film dramatizes the events of why they decide to get tested, the thoughts that run through their minds as they wait for their results, and what happens after finding out the outcome of the test. “We were really excited to hear of a project like this [Absolutely Positive] taking place right here in our backyard. We are very glad we could help a project like this that contained such truth and fearlessness,” said Randy Light, Event Coordinator for the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina. Writer/director Anthony Williams, who has worked in the film industry for 15 years, was inspired to write the film due to some personal experiences he endured revolving around HIV.

Williams described his motivation to make the film as “a trying, yet rewarding venture,” saying: “As a filmmaker, I've always wanted to make films that served a purpose--primarily the purpose of opening audiences' eyes to something that is completely out of their comfort zone and realm of knowing and thinking. It's only through this way that people can gain a better understanding of the people around them as well as the world we all live in.” Williams’ hopes the film will bring awareness and humanity to the important local and worldwide health issue of HIV. Williams’ goal is to coalesce all the different communities affected by HIV, directly and indirectly, in order to bring about real change. He sees the film as one that breaks preconceived stereotypes, reaches beyond the boundaries of sexuality, gender, and race, and one that shows the real effects of HIV on real people. This film will be engaging and thought-provoking for any and all audiences like the LGBT and straight communities, the health community, college communities, both the people who are HIV positive or negative, and many others.

The film is being premiered at Club 313 in Downtown Raleigh. There will be two red carpet affair screenings--one on January 25th at 8pm and another on January 29th at 5pm. Guests will be treated like movie stars with candid paparazzi and giveaways throughout the evening. Tickets are $5 CASH only and available at the door. All ages are welcome but you must be 21 or older to purchase alcohol.

There has been enthusiastic support from various communities and organizations within the Triangle all the way to Los Angeles. More information on the film can be found on the film’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/absolutelypositivefilm, which also includes multiple behind-the-scenes photos and videos documenting the film making process from the beginning (auditions, table read-throughs, filming, etc) to the last day of filming, or at www.secondglanceproductions.com. “Only one person, one time. Can you ever be Absolutely Positive?”

Anthony Williams—a native of Little Rock, Arkansas and owner of Second Glance Productions—relocated to North Carolina from Los Angeles to further pursue his career in the film and entertainment industry. From a young age, Williams has always had a firm grip on his vision for the rest of his life and has been working toward it ever since. At the age of 13, he began by writing music, which honed his craft and helped him find his voice as a writer. Once he hit high school, he took on any and every opportunity he could, gaining as much training as possible. He spent his entire high school career involved in theater—becoming a known figure in high school theater productions and forensic competitions throughout the state. Later on, he was given the opportunity to write, produce, and direct some of the pieces put on for the public, helping him gain further experience and presence as a producer and director and further proving himself as a true visionary. Before the end of his high school chapter, Williams walked away with numerous awards and recognitions including 1st Place National Thespian Champion in the category of pantomime in 2005, Statewide 1st Place Champion in Reader’s Theater (credited for writing, producing, and directing) in 2006, 2004-2006 Finalist in Poetry, Prose, and Humorous/Dramatic Interpretation, and much more.

After graduating from Little Rock Central High School in 2006, Williams received some college education before deciding to take the leap of faith by moving out west to Los Angeles to assist with creating an independent production company. It was there he continued writing, but also officially added the titles of director and producer to his name. He brought many projects into the development stages, but after seven months of trial and error, that company’s launch was unsuccessful. Williams took everything he’d learned from that experience and relocated to North Carolina where he continued to write and act in films. He began to put action into motion, shortly after, creating Second Glance Productions.

With over ten years of training and experience, Williams intends to put all his knowledge to use, creating a successful career and opportunity for others all while creating unique films that stick in the minds of everyone that sees them.

IT’S ABOUT YOU is a new musical documentary that offers a rare and intimate look at the life and music of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp. The film premiered at this year’s SXSW festival and follows Mellencamp on his summer 2009 concert tour and during the recording of his most recent album, 2010’s universally acclaimed No Better Than This, the sessions for which took place at American musical and historical landmarks, including Sun Studios in Memphis and the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA. We see Mellencamp recording – with a single mike and mono tape recorder more than half a century old – in the same hotel room where legendary bluesman Robert Johnson created some of his most memorable work. Along the way, Mellencamp reveals a side not often seen by the public, in a film that becomes a soulful, highly personal meditation on small-town America.

Kurt Markus’ photography has appeared in such leading publications as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, GQ and The New York Times Magazine, and he has shot cutting-edge ad campaigns for BMW, Armani, Nike and other companies. His unique vision has been brought to bear on IT’S ABOUT YOU, which was shot on Super 8 and whose vintage Americana look is the cinematic equivalent of a well-worn pair of jeans.

Opening in theaters on March 23, 2012
The film will simultaneously be available nationwide on IFC Films’ video on demand platform, available to over 50 million homes in all major markets on March 23, 2012
Starring Willem Dafoe, Shanyn Leigh, Paz de la Huerta and Natasha Lyonne
Written and directed by Abel Ferrara

How would we spend our final hours on Earth? And what does how we choose to die say about how we have chosen to live? In the inimitable Abel Ferrara's (GO GO TALES, KING OF NEW YORK) new film, this thought experiment takes on a visceral immediacy. With the planet on the verge of extinction, a New York couple, (Oscar-nominated Willem Dafoe and Shanyn Leigh), cycles through moments of anxiety, ecstacy and torpor. As they sink into the havens of sex and art, and Skype last goodbyes in a Lower East Side apartment filled with screens bearing tidings of doom and salvation, 4:44: LAST DAYS ON EARTH becomes one of Ferrara's most potent and intimate expressions of spiritual crisis. The first fiction feature of Ferrara's to be filmed entirely in New York in over a decade, 4:44 is a mournful valentine to his beloved city.

“GRADE: A- Ferrara’s most personal work, it’s also ironically the most life-affirming in a career defined by anger and grime.”
-Eric Kohn, Indiewire
2011

Venice International Film Festival
Official Selection of the 2011 New York Film Festival